Paul Ince refused to attend the customary post-match press conference after being targeted for abuse by Blackburn Rovers supporters in their 5-3 Carling Cup quarter-final defeat at Manchester United last night. Blackburn's fans chanted "You don't know what you're doing" and "We want Incey out" as well as singing the name of their former manager Graeme Souness.

There were also chants of "Tony Parkes's blue and white army" and "We want our Rovers back". It was Blackburn's fourth successive defeat and Ince sent a message saying he did not want to speak to the press. He did, however, take part in a brief television interview in which he criticised his team's defending. "You can't defend like that at any level, let alone against Manchester United," he said. "We're scoring goals but we're just not able to keep them out at the moment." He was not asked about the reaction of the Blackburn supporters or whether he felt his position as manager was in jeopardy.

The chants started after Blackburn had gone 4-1 down on a night when Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick to help United into the semi-finals.

Ince's decision to substitute Roque Santa Cruz with Robbie Fowler angered the away fans, prompting several rebellious chants. Fowler was also targeted, with cries of "you're not fit to wear the shirt". Ince's position has come under scrutiny, six months into his first job as a top-flight manager, after Blackburn have fallen into the Premier League's relegation places during a miserable run of no wins in the last nine games. They have not kept a clean sheet since a scoreless draw against Bolton Wanderers on October 18 and Sir Alex Ferguson felt the score flattered United's opponents.

"It was unbelievable," he said after watching his team go from 4-1 to 4-3 before Tevez completed the scoring with his hat-trick goal. "We shouldn't have been even close but losing those two late goals gave us a little twitch before Carlos wrapped it up.

"We created a lot of chances. We've scored five goals and, while you don't want to be losing goals and we lost three, it's not a fair reflection. We were just a bit careless."

United will consider themselves favourites to win the competition when they survey a semi-final draw that includes only one other Premier League side, Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Watford 2-1 last night. Burnley and Derby County are the other semi-finalists.